You Probably Need a New Website
Healio recently invited Dr. David Evans, CEO, CEATUS Media Group, to answer a question that is always pertinent: How often should a medical practice update and replace its website and blog?
Stay on Top of It
Let’s start with the obvious. We all know that blogs need to be updated on a regular basis. If your most recent blog post was written two years ago, you have a problem. As Dr. Evans pointed out, in the eyes of your potential patients, that’s worse than not having any blog posts at all. So, anytime anything happens at your practice (new procedure, technology, etc.), blog about it — or have your digital marketing firm do so.
You may be surprised to know that your website also needs to be updated — and replaced — pretty often. If you really want to stay on top of your game and take financial advantage of all the latest technologies and trends, you need an entirely new website every 3-5 years — and every 3 years should be the goal.
Why?
Technology and Tastes Evolve
Just think about how quickly technology evolves. How much bigger and better your smartphone is today than it was 5 years ago? If you’re like most people, a lot. This is very important because it changes what can be displayed to your potential patients — and where it can be displayed. Your new website can be developed so that it displays more information “above the scroll.” This means that people see all the most important information without having to scroll.
Tastes change, too. A few years ago, frilly designs with lots of graphics and movement, were really popular. Nowadays, people prefer a clean, wide design with a light background, lots of info above the scroll and easy methods of interaction. If your site wasn’t built recently, you could stretch it out, remove some graphics, etc., but it’s better to start from scratch to get it right.
So Does SEO
The success of your SEO also depends in part on how new your website is. As time goes on, certain features and coding conventions fall out of favor with Google. And as you know, you don’t want anything “out of favor” with Google! Once again, you could keep your current site and change the SEO, but if your site is too old this may be more like ripping out the pipes than tapping them with a wrench. If your site requires ripping out the pipes, you will probably end up spending so much money on SEO that it would have been better to just replace the entire site.
Even new websites need to be updated continually — that means as often as monthly — because things are always happening at your practice. If you have new technology, website videos or a new chat feature, for example, let alone a new surgeon, these are all things that need to be mentioned on your homepage.
Reach Out to CEATUS!
Of course, the doctors at your practice are probably too busy to deal with all of this, so designate a staff member who is familiar with the goings on of the practice to communicate all the latest news to your digital marketing firm.
Your marketing firm wants to help you succeed, so make sure to keep them up to speed with what is happening so they can share the news on your homepage — or build a new website to wow your potential patients (and Google).
And of course, for effective website development, expertise is needed and CEATUS has it! Feel free to reach out to CEATUS to learn more about website updates and all the latest advances in website technology.
Watch the full interview here.
